The Race
Galatians - Freedom! • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsStrategies and Truths of the Christian Race
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I’m a fan of endurance sports.
I’m a fan of endurance sports.
I ride bikes.
I ride long distances on them.
I’m not a sprinter.
I’m slow.
There is strategy to endurance sports.
And in the same way, the Christian life is much like an endurance sport.
It’s not a sprint.
It’s a long run.
And if we are going to finish this race, it’s going to take some strategy, and it’s going to take thought.
Sometimes, people jump into Christianity, and they run as if it were a sprint.
They start off so strong.
But after a while, they begin to grow weak.
If getting to heaven were a one mile race, some would get there in under 10 minutes.
But the run isn’t a mile long.
But the run isn’t 4 minutes
It’s long.
It has hills.
You run up.
You run down.
There are times it’s easy.
There are times it’s incredibly hard.
Paul is writing Galatians to a church, that is in the middle of the long Christian race.
For the next 2 weeks we will be in Galatians 5:7-12.
The Galatians have made it past the first downhill part, and now they are in the climb, and things are getting hard.
And like a coach, Paul gives the Galatians some blunt advice regarding their run.
This week we will focus on verses 7-10.
We will be in .
We will focus on verses 7-10 today.
Then next week we will look at verses 11-12.
Let’s read now.
Read Galatians 5:7-12.
There is a strategy to the Christian Race
There is a strategy to the Christian Race
There are certain strategies that we must remember.
We will look at the strategies of the Christian race, and the truths of the Christian race.
And as we begin, we will see 3 strategies of the Christian race that keep us moving forward.
At the beginning of verse 7, Paul comments on how the Galatians had started, they were moving forward.
“You were running well.”
Think of a runner at the start of a race.
The gun goes off.
He doesn’t stay there.
He doesn’t turn around and run away from the race.
He runs forward.
He runs with the intent of making it to the finish line.
The Galatians were genuine Christians, and they had started running in the right direction.
Sadly, they weren’t moving forward very well.
They had stopped making forward progress.
That’s not how you win a race.
As you look at your Christian life, there must be a strategy is to keep moving forward.
You are going to come to hills in your life.
And if you’ve ever ridden a bike up a hill, gravity is your enemy.
It slows you down.
And when you get to these hills, and you feel it pulling you to a stop, there is a temptation to get off your bike and walk up the hill.
The problem is once you stop, and once you get off the bike, you won’t get back on.
And once you stop, it’s hard to get moving again.
Have you ever watched a child just learning how to walk?
Every step is a battle against gravity.
They wobble.
And if he can keep his forward momentum going, he’s going make it somewhere.
He just has to keep his feet moving in front of him.
The Christian life is one of progress.
It’s not going backwards.
Backwards is going back into slavery.
It’s back into sin.
It’s back into the things that Jesus has saved you from.
Instead, it’s one of sanctification.
It’s moving forward.
It’s becoming more and more like Christ.
And so we must move forward.
A life that is moving forward is one where you are growing and maturing.
Here are three strategies to keep you moving forward.
The first strategy is that you need to truth.
Move forward
Verse 7, “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”
Think of a runner at the start of a race.
The gun goes off.
He doesn’t turn around and run away from the race.
He runs forward.
He runs with the intent of making it to the finish line.
The Galatians were genuine Christians, and they had started running in the right direction.
Sadly, they weren’t moving forward very well.
They had stopped making forward progress.
As you look at your Christian life, the strategy is to keep moving forward.
Have you ever watched a child just learning how to walk?
Every step is a battle against gravity.
They wobble.
And if he can keep his forward momentum going, he’s going somewhere.
He just has to keep his feet moving in front of him.
The Christian life is one of progress.
It’s not going backwards.
Backwards is going back into slavery.
It’s back into sin.
It’s back into the things that Jesus has saved you from.
Instead, it’s one of sanctification.
It’s becoming more and more like Christ.
And so we must move forward.
A life that is moving forward is one where you are growing and maturing.
Paul points out that forward progress is seen by obedience to truth.
For there to be obedience to truth there needs to be a knowledge of truth and a holding to truth.
So a life that is moving forward is one where a person craves truth and applies it to his life.
says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—”
Forward progress will happen as you study Scripture and hold to it.
, says that this is the person who delights in the Word of God, and he meditates on it.
He dwells on it.
He chews on it.
So often when people have felt as if they weren’t moving forward, I’ve asked them if they are spending time in God’s word, and 9 times out of 10, there is either no time in God’s Word, or very little time in God’s Word.
The Galatians stopped moving forward, because they stopped holding to truth.
And we see that because they are now wrestling with a false gospel.
Don’t be surprised if you are not in God’s word, if you are not moving.
This goes for everyone who is here.
If you want to move forward, you must be in God’s Word.
Youth, you must be in God’s Word.
You are not too young to have a consistent time in God’s Word.
Young Adults, you must be in God’s Word.
Your schedule is wonky, but get in it.
Adults, you must be in God’s Word.
Parents, you must be in God’s Word.
Seniors, you must be in God’s Word.
And be in His Word strategically.
Paul uses the idea of running to get this point across.
Have you ever known a runner?
They have a plan.
They aren’t like Forrest Gump.
In the middle of that movie, he just ran across the United States like it was nothing.
You don’t just run across the United States.
Runners know where they are running.
They have a goal when they run.
There’s a plan.
The same goes for your time in God’s Word.
You have a plan.
There is a time that you do it.
First thing in the morning.
Last thing you do during the day.
Pick a time.
It’s often helpful to have a place that you do it.
That cozy chair by the fireplace.
The kitchen table.
The backyard.
Pick a spot.
And then you hold to truth.
Something had happened to the Galatians.
Something had happened to the Galatians.
They weren’t holding to truth.
They had accepted another Gospel, and with it a lie.
Then once you know His Word, there is obedience to it.
This is evidence that you know the truth.
His Lordship becomes evident.
There is a craving for and submission to God’s Word.
The Lordship of Christ is a real thing.
It’s not just a prayer that we pray, or a cliche that we say.
And as you read His Word, then obedience becomes a real thing.
Because you are feeding your soul with God’s Word.
It becomes all you consume.
The second strategy in moving forward, is to be aware of anything that hinders your forward progress.
Move obediently
And specifically for the Galatians, the hindrance was a person, was a teaching.
Next week, we will look at these people.
But for right now we need to see that there are things that hinder your forward progress.
It’s amazing how much of the New Testament describes the Christian life as a race.
Whether it’s here in Galatians - “You were running well ...”
Or in , “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”
Anyone can run.
But our goal is to run and to run well.
To win a prize.
A marathon is 26.2 miles.
It’s one thing to run a marathon.
Now it’s one thing to run a marathon,
But do you know that there are people who run marathons while wearing weird costumes.
For example, there’s a record for running a half marathon with a full set of golf clubs.
I don’t know why.
But the record is 1:57:58
How about a half marathon dressed as a chef?
It’s 1:27:50.
Probably, the dumbest, is the fastest marathon while dressed as a … battery.
Yea, that means there’s actually a competition of dressing up like batteries.
And the record is 2:59:57.
None of those get close to what the real record is.
The record for running a full marathon is 2:02:57.
Suppose you were talking to Mr. Battery.
What advice would you give him to beat the actual record?
Get rid of the weight.
Stop dressing like a battery.
The battery costume is slowing you down.
It’s a hindrance.
The Bible tells us the very same thing when it comes to our Christian life.
says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Our strategy is to identify what slows you down, and get rid of it.
That verse says get rid of every weight and sin.
There are somethings that are flat out sinful, they hinder our forward progress.
These things we get rid of.
Our strategy is to identify what slows you down, and get rid of it.
You can’t run forward while living in sin.
But then there are other things that might be more in the grey area.
They aren’t outright forbidden in Scripture, but they aren’t helping you move forward either.
What are these?
Could be entertainment.
It could be our children’s sports.
Could be music or hobbies.
Could be how you spend your money.
Remember, you can run a marathon dressed as a battery, but that isn’t helping you finish.
It’s just extra weight.
It’s slowing you down.
There are things in your Christian life that you can do.
You have the liberty to do them.
But they aren’t helping you.
They aren’t making you more Christlike.
So we get rid of them.
It’s interesting what Paul says in verse 8 regarding things that slow us down, “This persuasion is not from him who calls you.”
So if anything is hindering you or slowing you down in your obedience to God, Paul says this is not from him who calls you, that is God.
If something is not moving you forward in your walk with God … then it is not of God.
So there is something in your life and you aren’t sure if you need to stop doing it or not.
It’s not exactly a sin.
But it’s not not a sin either.
This brings it all full circle.
Ask yourself this, “Is it helping you become more like Christ or is it slowing you down?”
Our goal is to be more Christlike, but if something is not making us more Christlike, then it is actually slowing us down, if it is slowing us down it is not from God, and if it is not of God, then it needs to be gotten rid of.
And the third strategy of the Christian race is that little sins turn into big problems.
Verse 9 Paul says, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
This is one of Paul’s sayings.
It’s one of his catch phrases.
I’ve known Randy for over 20 years, and there’s a few things that he says that are Randy sayings.
When Randy feet are sore after a long day of hiking or walking, he says, “My dogs are barking.”
That’s a Randy saying.
When someone messes up, he says, “You’re all wet.”
When it comes to ministry, he has a saying that has helped me while experiencing disappointment in others.
He has said, “It’s just people being people.”
That has helped me remember that people are sinners.
And people being people, means people aren’t perfect.
In verse 9 Paul says, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
This is one of his cliches.
He said it also in .
Next week we will see how this relates to false teachers.
But for this week, this is a reminder that a little sin can have big problems.
Especially, when it comes to the Christian race.
We cannot be content with just a little sin.
You put just a little yeast in dough, and it rises into something big and fluffy, much bigger than it started.
Think of the story of the Bible and how often has one little sin, has had huge repercussions.
How often has one little sin, had huge repercussions.
Because of one little sin, Adam threw the world into decay.
Because of one little sin, Moses didn’t enter the Promised Land.
Because of one little sin, Achan and his family were stoned to death after the victory at Jericho.
And because of one little sin, your forward progress is hindered.
Later on in this chapter Paul will compare walking by the Spirit and walking by the flesh.
And he will say that the two are complete opposites.
You cannot walk in the flesh if you are walking by the Spirit.
And if you have sin, don’t be surprised if you are not walking by the Spirit.
Just a little sin, has big affects in your walk with Christ.
We cannot be content with even a little sin in our life.
In a couple weeks, a group of our guys will go to the Sierras.
And during that trip, I’m sure they will go hiking.
And as they are hiking, one of them will get a small pebble, a tiny rock in their shoe.
And that pebble will work its way to the bottom of his shoe and get lodged in the arch of his foot.
And it will make the hike very unenjoyable, until he finally takes off his shoe, and gets rid of that little pebble.
Don’t think that God gives you a free pass, when it comes to sin.
He doesn’t say, “Oh that’s a small sin.”
It was a for a small sin, that earned us Hell, and it was for a small sin that Jesus died.
Therefore, we repent of all sin.
These are the 3 strategies of the Christian race.
You need truth.
You need to be aware of what hinders you.
And little sins can have big problems, so we address them.
And we address these, and we pursue them.
You read your Bible.
You learn hard things.
You’re obedient.
You examine your life, and pursue profitable things.
You repent, and pursue obedience in every turn.
If you have ever pursued obedience, you find that it is hard.
That’s why when things get hard, you need to remember these Truths of the Christian Race.
That’s why when things get hard, you need to remember these Truths of the Christian Race.
These are promises, promises in this text, that encourage us in our own battle and race.
Have you ever decided you’re going to lose weight and start working out?
It sounds good, until you wake up at 5 in the morning.
There are strategies and workout regiments.
And you ask yourself do you really want to do this?
And the answer is no, you don’t want to do this.
You’d rather still be sleeping.
You’re having this fight in your head.
So what gets you out of bed?
Truths.
If you work out you’ll be healthier.
You’ll lose weight.
Your doctor says your blood pressure is too high, and you need exercise.
You remind yourself of truths and they encourage you, they motivate you to move.
As you embrace these strategies, things will be hard, and so we need to remember the truths, and the promises God has given us.
The first truth is that God started you on this race.
Paul is deeply concerned about these Galatians.
He is angry.
They are turning to something wicked.
And yet, they are not hopeless.
Verse 7 acknowledges that it’s not as if they never moved past the starting line.
“You were running well.”
You started good.
Back in , “Having begun by the Spirit ...”
They are genuine Christians, who have received the Holy Spirit.
They didn’t make a decision to become more moral.
They were regenerated, born again and had received the Holy Spirit.
This is remembering your own conversion.
You didn’t start yourself on this race.
God did.
Ephesians says we were dead in our trespasses.
You know how far a dead man can run?
Not very far.
Because he’s dead.
But you were given life by God, when He started you on this journey.
We sometimes talk as if we were the ones that found God, and then put ourselves in this race.
As if He were this little lost deity.
As if God is sitting at the Lost and Found in K-Mart, crying, hoping we will find Him.
Scripture doesn’t talk that way.
God isn’t some crying child, hoping to be found.
We were the ones who were lost.
We were missing and we didn’t know it.
says that no one seeks for God.
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.
He came looking for us.
He called us.
He gathered us.
He found us and put us in the race.
Look back on how far you’ve come in your Christian walk.
You’re not at the starting line anymore.
You better be able to see how the Lord has matured you.
You should see a distance traveled from where you were a year ago, from where you were 5 years ago, from where you were 10 years ago.
When things get hard, remind yourself of the Gospel, remind yourself of your own conversion.
This is a truth that should help you get out of bed.
This truth should bring your comfort and encourage you in the hard days of your journey.
Suppose there is a sin that you are wrestling with right now.
It’s encouraging to think of the fight that you have with it, because once upon a time, there was no fight with it.
You just did it.
But now your battle with sin is real.
The second truth that you need to remember is God won’t lose you.
Paul talks about his confidence in verse 10, “I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view ...”
Paul is writing this letter and sending it via express mail to the Galatians.
He’s hoping it makes it to the Galatians before they adopt another gospel, a gospel of works, that says circumcision will save them.
But at the end of the day, he knows that since God is the one who put them on the track, that started them in their faith, that God won’t let these Christians fall away.
“I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view ...”
His confidence isn’t in the Galatians, but it’s in the Lord who will keep them.
Have you ever heard someone say you can “lose” your salvation?
The problem is that it wasn’t yours to lose.
We were the ones that were lost, and Jesus found us.
says, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
This means Christians can’t lose their salvation.
Christians may still sin, and those sins can have huge consequences, but a Christian won’t free fall into sin, especially to the point of denying Christ.
This is dangerous to talk about, because it doesn’t mean that you can sin all you want, nor is it a license to sin.
But it’s an encouragement.
That in your battle with sin, the Lord will restrain you.
says, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.”
So you may sin, but the Lord has promised to hold you.
To grab you by the hand, and not let you free fall into sin.
closes by saying that nothing in all of creation will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In fact
And what about when a person who you thought was a believer falls and denies the faith?
You’ve probably known people who claimed to be Christians and then fell away.
Family members.
Friends.
Old Church members.
That happened this past week.
There was an author and pastor who walked away from Christ.
I never read his books, or listened to his sermons.
But he was somehow always embraced by people around me, in my circles.
He was very prominent when I was in college.
And this past week, he divorced his wife and denied the Lord.
What do we do with him? What do we do with people like him?
He was never a believer in the first place.
Why? Because Jesus has said he will lose none that the Father has given Him.
That’s what the Word says.
People might be very convincing, but Jesus, Who is truth, has said He will lose no one.
There will be sheep and there will be goats.
There will be wheat and there will be tares.
And they will be around true believers.
says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”
So when someone who claimed to be a Christian leaves the faith, , says they were never one of us.
There will be people that say they are believers, but at some point they will fall away, and the reality is they were never a believer in the first place.
But for you, if you are in Christ, and have been born again, you can’t lose your salvation, because the reality is God won’t lose you.
In fact, not only will God not lose you, but He will bring you to completion.
He put you in the race, and He will bring you to the end of it.
, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
How about that for an encouragement?
You can know that God is not done with you.
As you meander through this life, for those who belong to Christ, He is sanctifying and will continue changing until you arrive in His presence.
And the third truth to remember in the Christian race is something we will talk more about next week in greater detail, but it’s important to remember for those who are running the race, God punishes those who attack the church.
In verse 10, there are 2 things that Paul is confident of.
You will take no other view, we have seen that already.
And, “the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.”
God isn’t distant or aloof in this life.
He sees all that is happening, and He will judge.
He cares deeply for His sheep.
He laid down His life for them.
He loves them.
He is jealous for them.
And He protects them.
So for those who sneak into the church, and attempt to steal away those that belong to God, He will judge them.
And He won’t be easy on them.
God wants those who belong to Him to be holy, just as He is holy.
And anyone who tempts his holy ones, his saints, it is as if they are attacking God Himself.
, Jesus says, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”
I’ve told some of you this story.
There was a woman who was calling the church on Wednesday nights.
She was Jewish, but wanted to know the Gospel and how we evangelize.
So for weeks, I was on the phone with her, sharing the good news with her.
After about a month, she came clean and told me that she is Jewish, but she tries to convert Christian Jews.
She contacts churches, and gets involved with them, with the intent of finding Jews and pulling them from the church.
As soon as she told me that, I went to this verse.
I warned her of God’s wrath.
Jesus has said, it would be better if a weight were tied around your neck and you were thrown into the ocean.
Did you catch how severe this punishment is for those who attack His church?
It’d be better if they were thrown into the ocean to drown.
Jesus loves His church.
And you will see and experience evil on this earth.
As we run in the Christian race, people will lay spike strips out in our way, hoping to slow us down.
And you can be confident, that Jesus will defend and protect those who are His, and bring the sword upon His enemies.
You don’t have to go out on a holy war and get rid of evil.
says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
This is a truth that we have.
There is evil in the world.
The presence of evil should not stop us in our obedience to the Lord.
Because we know that there is one who rules, reigns, and will judge.
What we’ve seen are strategies, warnings and facts for the Christian life.
What we’ve seen are strategies, warnings and facts for the Christian life.
You are in a race.
Run well.
These are the 3 strategies of the Christian race.
And just as a runner works on his stride, work on your stride.
See your need for truth.
Become aware of what hinders you, and get rid of it.
And get rid of the rocks in your shoes, those little sins that cause big problems.
And all the while remember the truths of the race.
God started the race.
God won’t lose you.
And God will protect you.
So run the race.